Kelvin D. Nickles, 17, pleaded guilty as charged in Ramsey County District Court to second-degree intentional murder and committing a crime for the benefit of a gang.

A gang member from St. Paul's East Side pleaded guilty Thursday to fatally shooting a member of a smaller rival gang during a large street brawl on Payne Avenue this month.

Kelvin D. Nickles, 17, pleaded guilty as charged in Ramsey County District Court to second-degree intentional murder and committing a crime for the benefit of a gang.

He was sentenced by Judge William Leary to 14-1/2 years in prison. Nickles had been certified Thursday to be charged and convicted as an adult.

Nickles -- whom police identified as a member of the Ham ("Hoes and Money") Crazy street gang, a younger offshoot of the East Side Boys -- admitted he shot Vincent Allison, a member of a smaller, newer gang known as Gutta Block. The two were part of a fight on Payne Avenue the night of July 11.

According to witnesses, at least 30 people were involved in the fight along Payne Avenue, and many had been involved in a fight earlier that night. Nickles shot Allison as he and other members of the outnumbered Gutta Block gang were trying to run, a witness told police.

Police identified Nickles using surveillance footage of Payne Avenue at the time of the shooting. Nickles admitted he was part of the altercation and wore a dark hoodie; police said the footage showed only one person wearing a hoodie during the fight: the shooter.

Everyone else wore T-shirts or was bare-chested, according to the complaint, which also said the person in the footage matched Nickles in skin tone, hair length and hair style.

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Police believe the two gangs are vying to become the East Side's second-most-powerful gang, behind the East Side Boys.

Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461 or follow him at www.twitter/SPnoir.